Centre launches 35 DDRCs across country

In a significant step towards the empowerment and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities has established 35 new District Disability Rehabilitation Centers (DDRC) across the country. The virtual inauguration of these centres was done by Social Justice and Empowerment Union Minister Dr Virendra Kumar.

These 35 new District Disability Rehabilitation Centres are distributed as follows: 13 in Madhya Pradesh, 07 in Andhra Pradesh, 06 in Odisha, 04 in Tripura, 02 in Maharashtra, and 1 each in Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur.

During the inauguration event, Minister Dr Virendra Kumar emphasized the remarkable achievements of persons with disabilities in various fields, both nationally and internationally. He re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to provide the best possible services to divyangjan, highlighting recent changes in the Central Scheme Guidelines to enhance the functioning of DDRCs.

Dr Virendra Kumar commended the adoption of new technologies by the DDRCs, such as tele-medicine services and assistance in UDID card registration, aiming to improve accessibility and efficiency in service delivery. He urged NGOs to strive for excellence in rehabilitation services.

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhowmik remarked that the establishment of this new DDRC centres exemplifies the deep concern of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment towards Divyangjan. She also told that DDRCs serve as crucial channels for delivering rehabilitation services directly to persons with disabilities at the grassroots level. This initiative ensures that individuals with disabilities no longer need to travel to distant areas to access essential facilities.\

Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Rajesh Aggarwal, emphasized the expansion of schemes to benefit persons with disabilities. He expressed the Government’s vision to ensure accessibility to rehabilitation centres be it DDRCs, CRCs etc within 100 kilometers of radious across the country.

At the end of the programme, Joint Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Shree. Rajeev Sharma expressed his gratitude to all the honoured guests present physically and virtually and concluded the programme.

Services and Facilities Provided by District Disability Rehabilitation Centers The newly established DDRCs aim to offer comprehensive services to persons with disabilities, including medical provisions, education, skill training, rehabilitation services, early identification, assistive device fitment, UDID Registration Facilitation, financial assistance, prosthetics and orthotics, physiotherapy, speech and hearing therapy, special education, parent counseling, among others. Additionally, these centres will facilitate awareness generation and promote government schemes while ensuring referral arrangements for surgical corrections through government and charitable institutions.
MB Bureau